Pirates Squeak by Mike Leake, Reds
by Charlie Wilmoth on May 25, 2010 11:26 PM EDT
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PrintPaul Maholm and the Pirates won 2-1 against Mike Leake and the Reds in a game that featured no scoring until the eighth inning. Last month I was skeptical of the Reds' decision to start Leake in the majors without his ever pitching in the minors. We probably won't ultimately know if their decision was a good one for another couple of years, but so far it looks great. Leake doesn't throw hard--his fastball rarely tops 90 MPH--but he changes speeds well and keeps the ball down very reliably, and his pitches have a bunch of movement. That'll get the job done.
Anyway, the Pirates didn't manage to score on Leake until the eighth, when Neil Walker, who was making his 2010 Pirates debut, doubled home Akinori Iwamura. That gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead, because Paul Maholm had kept the Reds silent before that, pitching seven shutout innings despite allowing eight baserunners and three doubles. Brandon Phillips homered off Joel Hanrahan in the eighth to tie the game, but Ryan Doumit hit yet another clutch homer in the ninth to put the Pirates ahead for good.
In the minors: Daniel McCutchen went seven innings and Pedro Alvarez reached base three times for Indianapolis in their 4-2 win over Gwinnett. Rudy Owens pitched seven innings for the win and Chase D'Arnaud went 3-for-4 for Altoona. (It would be nice for D'Arnaud to get going with the bat--he's adjusted very slowly to Class AA.) Bradenton piled up 14 hits, almost all of them by prospects, in beating Fort Myers 6-2. Brock Holt went 4-for-5, Robbie Grossman went 3-for-4, Tony Sanchez went 2-for-3 with a walk, and Jeremy Farrell went 2-for-4 with a homer. And we already covered the West Virginia game, in which Kyle McPherson pitched seven no-hit innings.
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Charlie/Insiders......
What is the general perception of prospect status (or lack there of) regarding Farrell, Pressley, and Latimore? Would it be correct to all put them in one category, something along ‘fringe prospect’ or are they better than that?
C-D
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on May 25, 2010 11:37 PM EDT reply actions
I think Latimore might be a little better just because of his age. Farrell and Presley are pretty fringy.
by Charlie Wilmoth on May 25, 2010 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Still no love for Presely (sarcasm implied)?
2-4 again tonight now hitting .383. If he keeps this up on into July does he get a call to Indy?
I mean, Kris Watts was hitting for a similar batting average at this point last year. I think it’s mostly sample size and that he should regress to the mean.
by Charlie Wilmoth on May 25, 2010 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree...
I don’t expect this to keep up especially since it seems like he doesn’t take a lot of walks. I think his BABIP was over .400 last I checked.
Slick1
Where are you able to get MiLB statistics such as BABIP and the like? Fangraphs doesn’t have them for the current season, I believe.
TIA
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on May 26, 2010 12:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Which, BTW, Presley’s MLE is still over .300 AVG. There’s a lot of baseball to be played as they say. If he happens to get promoted, then we get the luxury of video. I wish Altoona had a cable access station that covered the Curve and put it on the interenet.
by MarkInDallas on May 26, 2010 12:37 AM EDT up reply actions
firstinning.com is easier to look at (I think)
but doesn’t have as many splits
by tobynotjason on May 26, 2010 12:45 AM EDT up reply actions
Ah great. It’s got the full game log. That’s a very good thing.
by MarkInDallas on May 26, 2010 12:48 AM EDT up reply actions
I wish Watts could catch a break.
He’s carrying an OPS above .800 for Altoona again this year, and is throwing out 43% of runners who steal… and yet he’s still only got 70 PA, and he’s going to get freight-trained whenever Sanchez gets promoted.
I’d love to be eating crow as players like Grossman and Holt (and maybe Farrell) surge to the end of the season.
by Adam Reynolds on May 26, 2010 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions
How about Walker's debut?
Pretty nice job at third base tonight. It was a really nice performance IMO when you consider he’s only played 3rd once since spring training. I know it’s one game but he already makes DY expendable IMO. I don’t want to turn this into another bash Aki thread but I just don’t see how Walker could be worse at second. Anway, Neil played a nice game and I would expect he will get most of the starts at third till Laroche gets back. After that I’m curious to see how he’ll be used.
A couple throws he made early on looked a little rough. Overall, though, good game for him.
by Charlie Wilmoth on May 26, 2010 12:22 AM EDT up reply actions
That first throw in particular wasn’t pretty. Didn’t have much on it and it looked like Jones had to reach about as high as he goes on it. Pearce would probably have to jump for that ball.
I’m willing to chalk the first one up to nerves. 2010 debut for the big team in what is likely his shot in the MLB while playing a position he has played sparingly at best since the season began? I’ll let the rough defense early slide this time
The glare of the spotlight is harsh, and the pressure that success breeds immense. We revere our heroes, but expect much. And criticism can come as easily as praise.
I would love for this to be true....
Although, I am always a little skeptical of ‘reasons’ why Player X is struggling……even though he is still fine enough to play baseball day in and day out.
But, maybe this explains some of his struggles.
by CabreraKilledMyChildhood on May 26, 2010 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions
Oh yeah!
I know this isn’t exactly going to help much, but I head this very thing from…I think maybe Altoona’s manager in an interview on The Fan’s Seibel & Starkey last week at some point.
Unfortunately isn’t doesn’t seem like there’s a podcast of the interview up, so I can’t find anything exact about it :/
this west coast thing
isnt helping much… near SFO for the summer, which means I m out of whack at gametime, and therefore mostly not in the gamethreads :(
bright side, i can get mlb.tv and not be blacked out!
11 hits
2 runs. That’s kind of hard to pull off, I really wish we could reward Duke and Paul with wins when they pitch like this. Still, great game. Let’s win tomorrow to guarantee the split.
Of course, if they don't shut him down early
His career will be over before he hits 30. You know, after the Tommy Johns.
I dont know about that
Leake seems to know how to change speeds very well, even with his fastball. When he isn’t throwing his fastball 100 percent every time he throws it, that takes away the wear and tear associated with high pitch counts.
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